This morning we looked at how testing and trials are sometimes necessary to prove our faith and saw how the persistence and audacious faith of one foreign woman led to a great miracle, the deliverance of her demon-possessed daughter. This miracle (told to us in Matt 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30) often seems one of the most puzzlling passages in the New Testament, for instead of Jesus being compassionate and kind, He seems almost cruel to a woman in need, first of all not answering her at all, then declaring His ministry was only to the lost sheep of Israel and even saying, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
It would be easy to condemn Jesus as racist or misogynistic, but since we have seen Him talking with a Samaritan woman, healing a woman with a bleeding problem and healing the servant of a Roman centurion, these charges do not hold much weight. There would be no point saying God is racist since He is the maker of all peoples and the Bible is explicit in showing us He chose Abram so that he could be a blessing to all nations (Gen 12:3) as well as showing us that He will save people from every tribe and nation (Rev 5:10, Rev 7:9). We have to dig deeper to answer why Jesus seems so hostile to this woman.
It seems that Jesus sees the faith within and does all that He can to provoke that faith. The woman is bold in contradicting Him, giving reasons why He should still help her. (‘“Yes, it is, Lord,” she said.
“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”’ (Matt 15:27) Far from being shocked or put off by her response, Jesus commends her faith and heals her daughter. It seems that testing and trials actually are necessary to prove our faith (see James 1:3-5). Times of testing are designed not to break us but to re-make us, as both Abraham and Job found. Jesus is thrilled when we respond to Him in faith; faith is the key that opens the door to the miraculous.
